Conversations with Myself

Not many figures could inspire the President of the United States to pen a foreword for a memoir, but Nelson Mandela certainly is one. This singular record collects key items from Nelson Mandela's personal archives (several of which are reproduced in his own hand), charting the journey from his first stirrings of political consciousness to his galvanizing role on the world stage. It transcribes pages of Mandela's journals that he kept while he was on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written in his Robben Island prison; notebooks from the postapartheid transition; private conversations; and speeches and correspondence from his presidency of South Africa.

"By offering us this full portrait, Nelson Mandela reminds us that he has not been a perfect man. Like all of us, he has his flaws. But it is precisely those imperfections that should inspire each and every one of us. For if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we all face struggles that are large and small, personal and political—to overcome fear and doubt; to keep working when the outcome of our struggle is not certain; to forgive others and to challenge ourselves. The story within this book—and the story told by Mandela's life—is not one of infallible human beings and inevitable triumph. It is the story of a man who was willing to risk his own life for what he believed in, and who worked hard to lead the kind of life that would make the world a better place."—from the foreword by Barack Obama

"The South African statesman and former political prisoner bares his mind and soul in this inspiring collection of writings and interviews. Culled from Mandela's letters, notebooks, taped conversations, prison diaries, calendars, and an unfinished autobiography, the material includes reminiscences of the antiapartheid movement, lessons in revolutionary theory gleaned from his guerrilla training, vignettes of prison life, seething protests to authorities, tender missives to loved ones, canny political strategizing and quiet philosophical reflections. The entries recall moments of high drama, days of dreary routine and interludes of random strangeness, including a prison screening of Revenge of the Nerds. Mandela registers his anger at the humiliations and hardships imposed on him by apartheid, and his anguish over his long separation from his family (officials even denied his requests to attend his mother's and son's funerals). But what comes through most strongly is his steadfast resolve—'the knowledge that in your day you did your duty and lived up to the expectations of your fellow man is in itself a reward'—and a shrewd, ebullient humanity that finds and embraces the good even in his prison guards. The result is a moving account of Mandela's struggle and a testament to his triumph."—Publishers Weekly